Railway traction mechanism



March 10. 1925.

W. LEHMAN ET AL RAILWAY TRACTION MECHANISM Filed Fe 7, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N V EN TORS! A TTORNE Y.

March 10. 1925. 1,529,069

w. LEHMAN ET AL RAILWAY TRACTI ON MECHANI SM File Feb- '7. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 O '55 37 4] M 1 y H E: I 39 BY OTTO E K/IESEA Q/Q M ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,529,068 PATENT OFFICE.

WERNER LEHMAN, or SOUTH mLW'AUKEE, .AND or'ro F. a sas, or MtLWAtIKE WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR-S TO BU'cYnos COMPANY. or son'rtr MILWAUKEE, WIS- CONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

RAILWAY TRACTION MECHANISM.

Application filed February 7, 1921.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WERNER LEHMAN and Orro F. :KAESER, both citizens of the United States, and residents of South Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, and of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Traction Mechanism; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in propulsion mountings for heavy excavating and similar machinery, and pertains especially to railway traction mechanism therefor.

In traction mechanism of this character, while it is advisable to permit at least one of the axles of the machine to tilt with respect to the main supporting frame during propulsion, it is practically necessary to hold the frame rigid with respect to the ground when the parts carried thereby are functioning. Therefore it is the primary object of this invention to provide a simply constructed bracing means, which, while normally not in use, may be quickly, swung to operative position when the excavating machinery or the like is to be brought into action.

It is furthermore an object of this invention to provide bracing means of this character which, while adapted to lie close against the main supporting frame when not in use. are rigidly mounted when in extended operative position.

Another object of the invention is to provide means which will serve both as a tie plate member and a jack-arm holding memher.

With these general objects in view the invention resides in the novel features of com struction, combination and arran ement of parts which will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed, and shown in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 represents a plan view, partly in section, of the main supporting frame of an excavator structure having our improvements applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the parts shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the plane of the line 33 of Figure 1;

Serial No. 443M659.

ture, said frame being substantially rectan-' gular in shape and consisting of a pair of longitudinally spaced side bars or sills 1 and end bars or sills 2. The middle portion of this frame is braced by two pairs of interim-- diate transverse sills or bars 3 and 1, all

of which bars as well as the side and end bars are preferably of heavy I-beam con struction. A pair of side cover plates 5 are disposed on and extend inwardly from the top flanges of the sidebars 1, and these plates are riveted to said side bars and the transverse bars, while a transverse cover plate 6 is disposed on each pair of the intermediate transverse bars 3 and 4 and riveted to their flanges.

A rack and track member preferably in the form of a single annular casting 7 is mounted on the several cover plates, it resting particularly on the cover plates 6 sup ported by the transverse bars 3 and 4. and

overlapping the side cover plates 5 and the intermediate portions of the side bars 1 (see Figure 1). The casting 7 is riveted as at to the several cover plates and is thus retained in proper relation to the different elements of the main frame. track member includes inwardly extending radial arms 9 which merge into a central bearing sleeve 10, and the portions of these arms adjacent their connection with the annular portion of the casting T are transversely widened to provide attaching plates 11 which overlie the transverse bars 3.- The central bearing sleewe it) receives a vertical propu'lsimi shaft 11! which is connected with the machinery drive mechanism (not shown), and the upper end of said sleeve also forms a trunnion for the revolving frame (also not shown) which rests on the track portion of the casting 7.

The rack and track casting is further cured to the other parts of the frame by pairs of tie bolts 13 which are passed through said attaching plates 11, each pan- The rack and of said bolts straddling a respective transverse bar 3 and being connected at their lower ends by a suitable tie plate member to be later described. These bolts 13 obviously take up the tilting stresses involved in the operation of the heavy machinery mounted on the main supporting frame and relieve such stresses from the various rivets, including the rivets 8. Increased rigidity of the front end of the main supporting frame is obtained by mounting a combined bearing and bracing casting 14 between the front end bar 2 and the forward transverse bar a and securing the same midway of the ends of the latter. Among other uses this casting 14 obviously aids in evenly distributing stresses imparted to the draw head 15.

A rear axle 16 is provided for the main supporting frame and is journaled in bearings 17 carried by the side bars 1. Railway track wheels 18 are mounted on the axle 16 inwardly of the bearings 17, and rotation thereof is obtained through a beveled pinion 19 on the axle 16 and a beveled gear 20 on a counter-shaft 21. The counter-shaft 21 extends longitudinally of the frame and has its forward end gear connected with the vertical propulsion shaft 12.

A tilting front axle 22 is also provided for the main supporting frame, and th s axle is pivoted intermediate its ends between the ears 2 of a head 24 which is formed on the lower end of a king-pin 25. As shown most clearly in Figure 4, this king-pin 25 is mounted in the casting 14. The portion of the head 24 between the ears 23 is slightly convex as at :26 and is engaged by the upper edge of the axle 22 so that the latter may readily tilt.

The opposite ends of the axle 22 have spindle portions 97, the free ends of which are reduced as at 28 for wheel retaining collars 29. The railway track wheels 30 wh ch are journaled on the spindle portions 37 are disposed inwardly of the side bars 1 of the main suporting frame and have hubs of a less length than the length of said spindle portions so that it is possible to vary the relative distance between said whe ls. In other words a spacing collar 31 is disposed on each spindle portion 27 and is adapted to be selectively positioned between the inner end of the latter and the adjacent end of the wheel hub, or between the outer end of the wheel hub and the adjacent retaining collar 29. Thus the wheels may be accommodated for different track gag In this type of traction mechanism, since it is desirable to hold the tiltable front axle 2E3 transversely of the main supporting frame at all times, depending stop brackets 32 are mounted under the lower flange of the side bars 1 adjacent the ends of the axle 22. These brackets each include a flat bearing plate against whicn the adiacent retaining collar 29 is adapted to slide, said re aining collars being squared as shown in Figure 2 and retained against rotation on the reduced ends 28 of the spindle portions 27 bv pins 33.

For overcoming the tilting action rendered possible by this inonntin f the front axle, a pair of bracing structures are provided, one being disposed to each side of the main supporting frame. Each of these bracing structures includes a pith-arm H4 hung sulistantially midway its ends beneath a side bar 1 of the frame by a pivot shaft 35 carried thereby, this shaft being extended through a bracket fit} on said side bar and through the lower flange of the latter. The outer end of the jack-arm 34 carries a jack-screw 37 having a head 38. whereas the opposite end is designed to be engaged with a jack-arm s ll 39 when in active operation.

The sills 33!). one of which provided for each jack-arm, are dispmed longitudinally of the main suljiporting frame and SlllJSlLtlIb tially parallel with the side bars i thereof. Their length is such that they bridge the space between the transverse bars I? and are adapted to be he d in engagement with the lower flanges thereof by said tie bolts 13. Thus the end portions of the sills 39 form tie plate members for these bolts, their intermediate portions being of substantially I-bearn construction. A stop rib 4b is formed between the horizontal flange portions of the sills 39 and is adapted to limit the swinging movement of the jack-arms 34 in one direction (see Figure 1).

When inactive the jack-arms 3*]: lie as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1, or in other words, substantially longitudinally of the main supporting frame, they being held thus by retaining rods 41. one end of each of which is pivoted to the outer end of the jack-arms, whereas the other ends thereof are disposed in holes 42 in the lower flanges of the side bars 1. On the other hand when the jack-arms are in use and are disposed substantially at right angles to the main su i iorting frame, these rods 41 are hooked into other holes 43 in said flanges of the side bars. Thus the jack-arms are retained against movement in one direction by these rods 41 and in an opposite direction by the stop ribs 40.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications of structure may be employed to meet differing conditions of use and manufacture without departing in any manner from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a traction mechanism, a supporting frame including side bars and transverse connecting bars, a superstructure track low mounted on said bars, pairs of tie-bolts extended through said track and embracing certain of said transverse bars. a jack arm sill secured to said frame by certain of said tie-bolts and constituting a tie-plate for said tie-bolts, and a jack-arm connected intermediate its ends to one of said side bars. one end of said jack arm engageable with said sill, the other end projectable outwardly from said frame.

2. In a traction mechanism, a supporting frame including side bars. and transverse connecting bars a superstructure track mounted on said bars, pairs of tie-bolts extended through said track and embracing certain of said transverse bars, a jack-arm sill secured to said frame by certain of said tic-b0lts and constituting a tie-plate for said said tie-bolts. and a jack-arm pivotally connected intermediate its ends to one of said side bars so as to swing into and out of operative position, said sill being arranged to receive and brace one end of said arm when in operative position.

3. In a traction mechanism, a supporting frame including a pair of side bars, a pair of end bars connecting the side bars, a pair of spaced iutermediately disposed transverse bars connecting said side bars. a superstructure track mounted on the side and intermediate bars, a plurality of pairs of tie-bolts extending through the track. the bolts of each palr straddling one or the other of said intermediate bars of the frame. a pair of jack-arm sills disposed substantially parallel with said side bars and secured to the frame by adjacent pairs of tie-bolts, said sills forming tic-plates for the bolts and having arm en'd receiving portions, and a jack-arm carried at its intermediate portion by each side bar of the frame, the ground-engaging ends of the jack-arms extending outwardly of the frame, the opposite ends of the jaclcarms being engaged with said sills and disposed in said receiving portions.

4. A traction mechanism including a supporting frame. a ack-arm having its intermediate portion mounted on a substantially vertical pivot at the side of the frame, and a seat portion carried by the frame for engagement and disengagement by the inner end portion of the jack-arm when said arm swung transversely of the frame.

5. A traction mechanism including a sup porting frame having side bars. a jack-arm having its intermediate portion mounted on a substantially vertical pivot under one of the side bars, and a seat portion carried by the frame inwardly 0f the last mentioned side bar for engagement with the inner end portion of the jaclrarm when said arm is swung to extend transversely of the frame whereby to afford cantilever support for the outer or ground-engaging end of the jael -ar1n.

6. A traction mechanism including a sup porting frame having side bars, a pivot member carried by one of the side bars. a jack arm mounted intermediate its ends on said pivot member and adapted to extend transversely of the side bars or substantially longitudinally thereof. means for locking the jack-arm in either of is two positions, and a seat portion carried by the frame inwardly of the jack-arm carrying side bar for engagement by the inner end portion of the jack-arm when the same is swung trans versely of the frame whereby to form a eanti lever support for the outer end or groundcngaging portion of the jack-arm.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands at South Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

WERNER LEHMA N. OTTO F. KAESER. 

